Device for adjusting the beat of pendulum clocks.



No. 638,745. Patented Dec. I2, I899.

J. H. NEWELL.

DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING THE BEAT 0F PENDULUM CLOCKS.

(Application filed Sept. 12, 1899.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT ()rrrcn.

JOHN H. NEWELL, OF LYNDON, KANSAS.

DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING THE BEAT OF PENDULUM CLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,745, dated December12, 1899.

Application 5166 September 12,1899. Serial No. 730,257. (No model.)

To aZl whom it may concern.-

Beit known that 1, JOHN H. NEWELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lyndon, in the county of Osage and State of Kansas, haveinvented a new and useful Device for Adjusting the Beat of PendulumClocks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for adj usting the beat of pendulumclocks; and the object in View is to provide means by which the beat ofthe time-keeping train my be adjusted automatically when the clock isplaced on a shelf or mantel which is not level or is suspended in aposition deflected a little to one side of the perpendicular.

A further object is to provide a beat regulater or adjuster which may beeasily applied to ordinary clocks, either before or during themanufacture thereof, at a small cost owing to the simplicity in theconstruction and the ease of attachment of the device.

lVith these endsin view the invention consists in the combination with apendulum and a verge-rod, of a beater-adjuster consisting of membersconfined slidably together by frictional engagement and connected,respectively, with the pendulum-rod and the verge rod and devices forlimiting the oscillation of the verge-rod to automatically adjust themembers of the beater-adjuster relatively one to the other.

The invention further consists in the novel construction and arrangementof parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand the invention, 1 have illustratedapreferred construe tion thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation ofpart of an ordinary clock -1novement with my improved beater-adj usterapplied in operative relation to the pendulum-rod and the verge-rod.Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the beat-adjuster attachmentremoved from the clockmovement. Fig. 3 is a detail cross-sectionunderstand the mode of using my improved beat-adjuster, I haveillustrated the same applied to the movementof an ordinary pendulumclock by Fig. 1, in which 10 designates the pendulum-rod, which carriesthe pendulum-weight 11 and is fastened to the post 12, the latter beingsupported in the movementframe 13. The escapement-wheel 11 is carried byan arbor 15, which is in operative relation to the time-train (notshown) of the clock, and with this escapement engages the verge 16,which is carried by a shaft 17 and is equipped with the usual verge-rod18. All these parts are ordinary in the art, and it is to be understoodthat no novelty for these elements is claimed in this application.

My invention is directed to an appliance (indicated generally by thenumeral 20) by which the beat of the movement may be regulatedautomatically should the clock be placed intentionally or accidentallyon a shelf which is not level or be suspended in a position out ofperpendicular. This attachment consists of members 21 22, confinedslidably by frictional engagement one with the other and adapted to beconnected with the penduln 111'- rod and the vergerod, respectively. Themember 21 is shown by Fig. 2 as bent from a single piece of spring-wireto form the yieldablc arms 23 and a loop or eye 24. In manipulating thewire to produce the member I first proceed to bend or double the wire,so as to make the elongated loop 24, after which the two ends of thewire are bent into parallel relation to produce the yieldable arm. Theaxis of the loop or eye is at right angles to the length of the arm inorder that the attachment may be fitted on the pendu1um-rod in a mannerwhich will permit said rod of the pendulum to have a limited swingingoscillation in the direction of its post 12, which is sometimesnecessary in clock movements which employ pendulum-rodshaving a springat the upper extremity thereof for attachment to the post. The width ofthe eye or loop, however, in the member of the beat-adjuster is not muchgreater than the diameter of the pendulum-rod, so as to cause saidadjuster to play with the pendulum-rod in its oscillation, and in orderto retain the member 21 in proper relation to the pendulum-rod, so thatit will oscillate therewith, I prefer to bend one arm 22 of the memberinwardly toward the other arm, as at 25, thus forming a stop whichprevents the pendulum-rod from entering the space between the arms 23.The other member 22 of the beat-adjuster is in the form of a block,preferably of metal and of a width to fit snugly between the arms 23 ofthe member 21, in order to slightly spread the arms and make the twomembers engage frictionally one with the other. This block-shaped member22 is provided in its opposite faces with longitudinal grooves 26, andit is, furthermore, provided with a transverse perforation 27. The lowerpart of the verge-rod 18 is adapted to be fitted in the perforation 27of the blockshaped member 22 in a manner to make said parts fast onewith the other, such union between the member 22 and the verge-rod beingeffected in any suitable wayas, for example, by pinning or clamping theblock 22 to the rod. The arms of the yieldable member are fitted in thegrooves of the block member in order to support the yieldable member onthe block member by en gagement of the arms with the grooves and byfrictional contact between the faces of the members, whereby the entireattachment is supported or carried by the verge-rod, as shown by Fig. 1.

In order to properly adjust the members of the beat-adjuster relativelyone to the other when the clock is placed on the shelf and started inservice, I employ the stop or curb pins 28, which are made fast with themovement-frame at points on the opposite sides of the arc of vibrationof the verge-rod. These curb-pins may be forced friction tight intosuitable openings of the frame, or said pins may be threaded and screwedinto holes tapped in the frame, either of which expedients will suggestthemselves to the skilled constructor.

In applying the beat-adj uster to an ordinary clock the block member isfastened to the verge-rod, the friction member has its eye or loopfitted over the pendulum-rod and its arms engaged with the grooved facesin the block member, and the curb-pins are attached to themovement-frame. Now if the clock is set or suspended out of its trueposition the pendulum will swing farther to the low side and push theverge-wire against one of the curb-pins, thereby adjusting the yieldableor spring member 21 end wise on the block-shaped member 22 until theescapement of the clockmovement beats perfectly even. The attachment iscarried wholly by the verge-rod, and the members engage each other withsufficient frictional contact to prevent relative movement of one memberon the other under normal conditions, so that the oscillation of thependulum-rod will be communicated through the beat-adjuster to theverge-rod.

Changes may be made in the form and proportion of some of the partswhile their essential features are retained and the spirit of theinvention embodied. Hence I do not desire to be limited to the preciseform of all the parts as shown, reserving the right to vary therefrom.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. The combinationwith a verge-rod and a pend ulum-rod of a clock-movement,ofabeatadjuster having two members frictionally engaging one with theother to travel together under normal conditions, and engaging with saidpendulum and the verge-rod respectively, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a verge and apendulum of a clock-movement, of abeat-adjuster consisting of members engaging frictionally one with theother to travel together under normal conditions and confined slidablytogether for automatic separation under an abnormal adjustment of theclock-movement, one member engaging with the pendulum and the othermember engaging with the verge, and means to preliminarilyadjust theslidable travel of said members one on the other, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination with a verge-rod and a pendulum of a clock-movement,of a beat-adjuster carried by said verge-rod and having a pendulummember confined frictionally thereon under sufficient tension to travelnormally with the verge-rod and a pendulum, said member provided with apendulum-receiving eye elongated in a plane at right angles to the planeof oscillation of the pendulum.

4. The combination with a verge-rod and a pendulum of a clock-movement,of a beat-adjuster comprising two members engaging slidably one with theother and one member formed as a spring arranged to frictionally embracethe other member with sufficient pressure to insure the travel of thetwo members simultaneously under normal conditions, one member beingattached to the verge-rod and the other member engaging loosely with thependulum-rod, and curb-pins in the path of the verge-rod topreliminarily adjust the members of the beat-adjuster relative one tothe other, substantially as described.

5. A beatadjusting attachment for clockmovements comprising a groovedbloclnlike member, a spring member having arms slidably engaging withthe block member and also provided with an eye or loop, and curbpins,the whole adapted for operation in the manner and for the purposes setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signaturein the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN II. NEWELL.

Witnesses:

J. W. KEENAN, W. Y. Hoovnn.

